Confederate Currency 1861 $50 Dollar CSA Note George Washington T-8
Obverse: Bust of George Washington center. Tellus seated at lower left. This variety comes on thick bond paper with "for" handwritten before "Treasr." The commonly seen blue stamped "C" is seen at left. Some think this was a cancellation stamp. This note was printed with black ink and has no design on the back.
Reverse: Blank.
Inscriptions: "Two years after date The Confederate States of America will pay to Bearer Fifty Dollars/ Richmond, Va. July 25th 1861/ Receivable in payment of all dues except export dues/ Refundable in Confederate States Stock bearing Eight per Cent interest/ for Register Hoyer & Ludwig Richmond, VA"
Total issue was 123,564. Prior to producing this note, Hoyer & Ludwig used these same vignettes in a similar arrangement on a $ 1.50 note of May 1, 1861 printed for the Southern Manufacturers Bank in Richmond. Subsequently, the vignettes were again used, but in a transposed arrangement on State of Florida notes issued during the fall of 1861. This note is occasionally found stamped in green with a “C” inside an oval as illustrated. Its exact use is unknown. While several explanations have been advanced, none answer the question of “Why this issue only?” A small capital “P” in green also appears stamped on some of these notes, as well as Nos. 8 and 10. Varieties of this marking and others such as CST and GIC exist, which raises the question of whether they are contemporary markings by Confederate officials. In any case, the most commonly seen are notes stamped with a “C,” which increases the value approximately 15% to 20%, while those with “P” are worth an additional 25% or more. There are nine varieties of this note not including markings described above. These result from differences in plate letters (B, Bb, C), plain, thin or bond papers, and “For” written or printed. There is also a difference in the location of the oval frame of Washington’s portrait over the “5” — some 5s are more completely covered. This makes additional minor varieties.
